Carabimero
Senior HTF Member
Title: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Tagline: Three wonderful loves in the best picture of the year!
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O'Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael, Gladys George, Roman Bohnen, Ray Collins, Minna Gombell, Walter Baldwin, Steve Cochran, Dorothy Adams, Claire Du Brey, Pat Flaherty, William H. O'Brien, Bert Stevens, Don Beddoe, Marlene Aames, Charles Halton, Ray Teal, Howland Chamberlain, Dean White, Erskine Sanford, Michael Hall, Victor Cutler
Release: 1946-12-25
Runtime: 172
Plot: It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare. Captain Fred Derry is returning to a loveless marriage; Sergeant Al Stephenson is a stranger to a family that's grown up without him; and young sailor Homer Parrish is tormented by the loss of his hands. Can these three men find the courage to rebuild their world? Or are the best years of their lives a thing of the past?The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) won more Oscars than Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, and Citizen Kane combined, yet many people have never seen it or even heard of it.
It’s the story of three World War II veterans returning home after the war, and the challenges they face. For me the movie is really about forming and maintaining friendships, ending toxic relationships, and looking past external appearances to value another’s heart. I could talk about its deep focus storytelling, about the superb writing, the symbolism, the humor, and more. But your time is better spent watching it, especially if you haven't seen it.
I’ve seen it dozens of times and I never get tired of the scenes. In forty years I’ve never once had the urge to scan through portions of it. The cast is rock solid: The chemistry of Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright and Myrna Loy creates realism and gravity. This is not a sentimental movie in a time when most movies of its ilk were; it deals with alcoholism, PTSD, disabilities, and more in an accessible way. It's authentic in unusual ways, least of which is featuring the only actor to ever win two Oscars for a single performance—and he wasn’t an actor at all, but a WWII veteran named Harold Russell who lost his hands in a training accident.
There's a book called Glory for Me by MacKinley Kantor. It's this book from which the screenplay for Best Years was written. Interestingly, the book is called a novel, but it's not prose. It's written like verse. Here's a sample:
Their worry made them one
And each had felt
The kiss of death so many times
That he could only share himself
With other men whose lips still wore the damp
And pungent print of cold infinity.
At the time the movie rights were bought, the title, Glory for Me, didn't test well, so RKO announced a title contest, offering $50 in 1946 for the best suggestion. Here are some of the titles that were suggested by the public: Back Home For Keeps, When Daylight Comes, Three Roads Home, and No More Bugles. Someone from Goldwyn's NY office sent in the title "The Best Years of My Life" from a line uttered by Virginia Mayo late in the movie. The legal department said no, because New Yorker magazine had published an article with that title the year before. So they changed it to second person plural and announced the title as The Best Years of Our Lives in May 1946.
All the major players in the movie received $100,000, except Dana Andrews, who got $86,000 because he was already under contract by the studio. How much did the unknown double Oscar winner get? Harold Russell received a mere $6,000. He had neither acting experience nor an agent, which didn't help him; add to that, he was disabled. Russell later received criticism when he sold one of his Oscars. "What do I need two of them for? I want to take my wife (who was dying of cancer) on a cruise.” A pair of autobiographies from Russell are available. Both are worthwhile reads.
Some of the info I am sharing comes from a wonderful little text by Sarah Kozloff, which is worth reading if you love the movie.
And the soundtrack is available, too. On days I want to watch it but don’t have three hours, this touching music scratches my itch.
I watch the movie on average twice a year. Now I’ll have a place to post my thoughts while I continue to age and see this masterpiece in different ways throughout my life.
As long as wounded soldiers come home from war, this movie will be relevant. If you have a love for this film and know of other goodies I haven’t mentioned, I hope you’ll post about them. If you haven’t seen the movie yet—or haven't seen it in a while—I hope you’ll make time to watch it. I'd love to hear what others think about this show.
One thing I have discovered through decades of watching and appreciating this movie is just how little has been written or published about it. Perhaps we can add to our knowledge and love for The Best Years Of Our Lives right here.
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